5 July

Professor Pat Troop completes her independent review of the Food Standards Agency’s response to the adulteration of processed beef products with horse and pork meat and DNA. The final report has been published.

13 June

The Agency confirms it has received a further 19,050 industry results from testing beef products for horse DNA. The Agency has also published the full report of the local authority testing programme. The new results show that three beef products contained horse DNA at or above the 1% threshold. None tested positive for the veterinary drug phenylbutazone (bute).

4 June

Professor Pat Troop presents to the FSA's open board meeting the key findings of her review of the Agency’s handling of the adulteration of processed beef products with horse and pig meat and DNA. The final report will be published at the end of this month on the FSA website.

23 April

The FSA receives confirmation that the final result for the remaining sample taken as part of the Agency’s UK-wide sampling programme of beef products does not contain horse DNA at or above the 1% reporting threshold.

The FSA confirms results of four of the remaining five samples relating to the Agency’s UK-wide sampling programme of beef products. All five of the products were withdrawn from sale following receipt of the first test results. Two of the four samples have been found to contain horse DNA at or above the 1% threshold for reporting. Neither product was found to contain the veterinary drug bute (phenylbutazone) or pig DNA.

26 March

Further test results from the first two phases of the FSA’s UK-wide sampling programme of beef products have now been confirmed. The results show 352 out of 362 samples were negative for the presence of both horse and pig DNA.

8 March

Sampling of the first and second phases of the FSA's UK-wide survey of beef products completed and the initial test results published. The results show that 212 of the 224 samples taken in phase one are negative for both horse and pig DNA at or above the 1% threshold.

The Burger Manufacturing Company withdraws products that contain at least 1% horse meat*, after testing carried out by Powys County Council.

* 22 March update: The Burger Manufacturing Company (BMC) withdrew the products after initial tests indicated that they contained horse DNA at a 1% Limit of Detection. However, subsequent tests confirmed the presence of horse DNA at levels below the 1% threshold for reporting.

The Agency's most recent tests on the presence of phenylbutazone (bute) in horses slaughtered in the UK checked 206 horse carcasses between 30 January 2013 and 7 February 2013. Of these, eight tested positive for the drug. Six were sent to France and may have entered the food chain. The remaining two did not leave the slaughterhouse in the UK .

11 February

The Agency announces that it has begun a system of 'positive release' for horses slaughtered in the UK. This means that horse carcasses will require a negative phenylbutazone (bute) test before they are allowed to enter the food chain.

Tesco tests the frozen Everyday Value Spaghetti Bolognese, which had been previously withdrawn, and finds that while most positive results are at a trace level of less than 1%, three have shown significant levels of horse DNA, exceeding 60%. The company also tested the horse meat for bute. The results are negative.

9 February

The FSA and Defra demand that more authenticity tests are carried out on all beef products, such as beefburgers, meatballs and lasagne, and for industry to provide the initial results to the FSA by 15 February. It is agreed that initial tests will focus on the areas of most concern, but that all products will be tested as part of the programme and all results reported.

The FSA and the food industry commits to work together to identify the best points in the supply chain to test as part of the ongoing programme and to publish regular reports of test results.

8 February

The Agency announces that it has involved the police, both here and in Europe, after the evidence it has about the two cases, of the significant amount of horse meat in burgers and lasagne, points to either gross negligence or deliberate contamination of the food chain.

7 February

The FSA confirms that the meat content of beef lasagne products previously recalled by Findus has tested positive for more than 60% horse meat. Findus withdrew the beef lasagne products after its French supplier, Comigel, raised concerns about the type of meat used in the lasagne.

The Agency reiterates that there is no evidence to suggest that this is a food safety risk, but does order Findus to test the lasagne for the veterinary drug phenylbutazone, known as bute.

The Agency announces that it is now requiring a more robust response from the food industry in order to demonstrate that the food it sells and serves is what it says it is on the label, and demands that food businesses conduct authenticity tests on all beef products, such as beef burgers, meatballs and lasagne and provide the results to the FSA. The tests will be for the presence of horse meat.

6 February

The Agency publishes the protocol for the UK-wide survey of food authenticity in processed meat products. The survey will use specialised analytical techniques to provide information about the possible presence of horse or pig DNA in a range of beef products. It is planned that 28 local authorities across the UK will take a total of 224 samples in accordance with the detailed protocol. Results will be published in April 2013.

The Agency announces that, as part of its ongoing investigation into mislabelled meat, it has tested a quantity of frozen meat currently detained in a cold store on the premises of a company called Freeza Meats in Northern Ireland. Freeza Meats is potentially linked to the Silvercrest factory in the Republic of Ireland.

Of the 12 samples from the suspect consignment that have been tested, two of the samples came back positive for horse meat, at around 80%. As this meat was detained, it has not entered the food chain.

1 February

The Agency announces that it has called an urgent meeting of major retailers and suppliers on Monday 4 February, following the Ministry of Justice announcement that a number of meat pies and pasties supplied to prisons in England and Wales were labelled and served as Halal, but contained traces of pork DNA.

25 January

The Agency announces that it has today received the results of tests conducted on samples taken from the Dalepak plant by North Yorkshire Trading Standards.

North Yorkshire Trading Standards took seven samples of burger lines, comprising all the meat being used currently in the production of these lines. Neither horse nor pork DNA was detected in any samples.

24 January

The Agency reiterates that horses that have been treated with the drug phenylbutazone, known as bute, are not allowed to enter the food chain and carries out regular enhanced sampling and testing for phenylbutazone in meat from horses slaughtered in the UK.

The Agency issues an update explaining that in 2012, the FSA identified nine cases where horses tested positive for bute. Seven were exported for the food chain. The other two did not enter the food chain. None of the meat was destined for the UK.

Where the meat had been exported to other countries, the relevant food safety authorities were informed.

18 January

The Department for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in Ireland announced that further samples of products from the Silvercrest processing plant had been tested. Seven samples of raw ingredients were tested, one of which, sourced from another European Union Member State, tested positive for the presence of horse DNA. The Silvercrest plant temporarily has suspended all production.

The FSA’s investigation into the Dalepak plant in Yorkshire is focusing particularly on Dalepak's suppliers and whether it has suppliers in common with Silvercrest.

The retailers named by the FSAI have confirmed that they have removed all relevant products from their shelves. Other major retailers have also decided to remove products from sale from the suppliers named in the investigation.

16 January

The Agency announces it is ‘investigating urgently’ how a number of beef products on sale in the UK and the Republic of Ireland came to contain some traces of horse and pig DNA. All of the retailers involved so far have removed potentially affected products from their shelves.

The Agency sets out the four-point plan for the investigation, which it will be implementing in conjunction with other Government departments, local authorities and the food industry:

1. To continue the urgent review of the traceability of the food products identified in the Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s survey. The retailers and the UK processor named in the survey have been asked to provide comprehensive information on the findings by the end of Friday 18 January.
2. To explore further, in conjunction with the FSAI, the methodology used for the survey to understand more clearly the factors that may have led to the low level cases of cross-contamination.
3. To consider, with relevant local authorities and the FSAI, whether any legal action is appropriate following the investigation.
4. To work with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the devolved rural affairs departments and local authorities on a UK-wide study of food authenticity in processed meat products.

The Agency noted that there two distinct types of case:

In all but one of the cases, extremely low levels of horse and pig DNA.

In the one exceptional case, the level of horse meat accounted for 29% of the meat content.

Therefore the causes of these two problems are likely to be different and the focus of the investigations into the causes will be different.

15 January

The FSAI publishes the findings of a targeted study examining the authenticity, or labelling accuracy, of a number of burger products, which reveals that products some contained horse and pig DNA.

In particular, 27 beefburger products were analysed, with 10 of the 27 products (37%) testing positive for horse DNA and 23 (85%) testing positive for pig DNA. In nine of the ten beefburger samples, horse DNA was found at very low levels. In one sample from Tesco, the level of horse DNA indicated that horse meat was present and accounted for approximately 29% of the total meat content of the burger.